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Aston Martin is building a 700hp V12 Speedster

By topgear, 10 January 2020

Aston Martin is making a new car. Unsurprising, given that it’s a carmaker, but specifically here it is making a roofless car in the mould of an old speedster. With a socking great V12 underneath. To avoid any confusion, this new car will be called the Aston Martin V12 Speedster.

We have no idea what it looks like – the silhouette with the little helmeted driver you see above is all we have right now – but let’s be in no doubt that it’ll probably look quite tasty. It’s being built in honour of Aston’s 1959 Le Mans win in that fabulous DBR1, and the CC100 Speedster concept car built for the company’s centenary.

It is apparently a “visceral celebration” of Aston’s past. To wit, it’ll get a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 hoofed under the bonnet, producing no less than 700hp and 700Nm of torque, matched up to an 8spd ZF auto gearbox mounted “towards the rear”.

If you’re interested, that’s more power and the same torque as a V12 DB11, but marginally less power and less torque than the V12 DBS Superleggera. Both of those cars have roofs, mind. This one… doesn’t. Which means you get All The Good Noise. Aston uses words like “thrilling”, and “invigorating”. ‘Loud’, is one we’d humbly proffer.

Aston will only say at this stage that the aforementioned V12 will be housed in a chassis that “utilises AM’s expertise in bonded aluminium”. The DBS Superleggera and DB11, incidentally, both use bonded aluminium too.

It’ll be unveiled later this year ready for 2021, and only 88 will be built. Reckon on between £750,000 and £800,000, too, though official prices will be confirmed once we’ve seen the thing.

“The 88 enthusiast drivers and collectors who secure the keys to these cars can be confident that in doing so, they are also securing an iconic new piece of Aston Martin history,” explains Aston boss Andy Palmer.

This, a McLaren Elva or Ferrari Monza? Or ALL THREE if you’re being greedy?

STORYVijay Pattni

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